Memories

The sound of an explosion sounded within Theodore's head awakening him from his slumber as an intense pain which he'd never felt before flooded his mind.

jolting up in shock, He gasped for breath as his vision became blurry, veins were clearly visible on his face, it felt his brain was about to rip out from his skull any time soon.

"A-Ack... Keuk...Gah..h.h. Ahhhh!!" He uttered in pain, twisting and twirling on his mattress, wishing for it to end, yet it never came, instead the pain seemed to increase the more time went by.

*Drip!*

The sound of a liquid dropping could be heard, a shocked look was visible on Theodore's face as blood were rushing in streams from his nose.

At first he was confused but then he realized it wasn't that surprising, the amount of headache he was going through right now, was enough to cause the blood flow.

He turned towards the window and noticed that it was still dark, his Aunt and her family were probably asleep, he tried to ignore the pain and laid back down on his bed but he wasn't ready for what was about to happen next.

As soon as he laid down on the bed, a different kind of pain occurred within his head, it was like a glass had exploded into millions of tiny shards piercing each part of his brain.

He yelled out in pain, thrashing and banging his head on the edge of his mattress desperately wishing for the pain to stop, yet it didn't.

It wasn't long until his aunt and her family came into his room, they found him on the floor with a small puddle of blood close to his head, he was tearing up, begging for the pain to stop, he wasn't moving around besides trembling on the ground as his strength seemed to have left him.

" Theodore?, Theodore!! Hey Theodore what's wrong, hey theodo .."

His aunt's worried voice was the last thing he heard before he became unconscious.

....

....

....

"W-Wha?.. where am I?" Theodore muttered with a confused look, as he drifted away in a black space filled with nothing.

"Am I dead? Did I die? But I wasn't killed, did Eren poison me? But why? Was he actually working with the organization? But it didn't seem like their motive was to kill me..."

Various thought's filled Theodore's mind but he quickly dismissed them as soon as he heard a voice within the void.

The voice was barely audible that he couldn't make out the words it said until it sounded again, this time it was louder.

"LUCAS!!!" The voice called, it was laced with rage and a bit of disappointment.

Soon the void which was pitch black slowly began to materialize into a camp within a forest where several children were undergoing Various hellish training that would make one question the chances of any of them making it out alive.

All the kids in the camp stopped their activities and directed their focus to a particular part of the camp.

Over there a slightly younger version of Marcus and a very young version of Lucas were standing close to a huge tree with a huge x mark on it.

The young Lucas was trembling in fear in the face of his master whilst Marcus stared down at him like he was going to kill him at any moment.

Marcus took the whip on his left hand and hit Lucas, he continually whipped him for a while that Theodore couldn't even count how much Marcus had whipped Lucas yet despite his trembling lucas never moved from his spot.

" How long do you think you can last?, you're feeling for your opponent? There's no such thing as friends on a battle field, Same thing applies within this organization. The same person you're trying to protect won't hesitate to pull the trigger at your skull." Marcus said, hitting Lucas much harder than before.

This went on for several minutes before Lucas trembling legs eventually gave in.

"Oh? Guess you couldn't hold out long enough, huh?! Now let's do something about that weak sentimental attitude of yours, Here!!!" Marcus said with a haughty smile, handing a loaded gun to Lucas.

" S..Sir p..l.eas..e, I..I can st.. still go.. on, pl.. please." Lucas begged whimpering like the little kid he was.

" Pathetic, you won the duel and you still hesitate to kill your opponent?, I don't need weak minded hounds like you, kill him or I'll kill you in his place. " Marcus said in a grim tone pointing to a kid who looked no older than Lucas, badly beaten and resting on one of the marked trees.

" P.. Please s.sir don't make m..me a monster... I don't want to kill anybody... I don't want to kil..."

Before Lucas could complete his sentence, a gunshot was heard and a gaping hole appeared on Lucas lap.

"Ahhhh, a..ck.., hic.." Lucas cried out in pain trembling on the ground as he did his best not to let out any sound.

" Resist again and I'll blow your brains out, now, here kill him!!" Marcus ordered, handing the gun to Lucas once again.

Lucas took the gun, with trembling hands, he looked at the boy who was beneath the tree.

"Please don't kill me.. please don't.. kill.. me!" The boy whispered, tearing up as he stared at his friend who was just a step away from breaking down.

" Ri..co, please forgive me... I'm sorry, I really am!.." Lucas pleaded before pulling the trigger, shooting his friend in the heart and ending his life.

Marcus smirked, a satisfied look could be seen on his face, " Ha, what was that? It looked like you were shooting a romance movie, anyway if you show any sign of weakness again you'll end up like your pathetic friend over there."

Lucas glared at Marcus, it was a look that clearly conveyed his feelings even without speaking, the words were quite clear, Marcus knew that Lucas was determined to kill him.

" Boy! Lower your gaze less you cross over to the other side to meet your sad friend. " Marcus ordered before dismissing everyone.

Theodore watched all these happen even in his incorporeal state knowing that he couldn't do anything as this was an event that had happened in the past, yet for some unknown reason he was feeling all the emotions Lucas was feeling.. rage, self loathing and sadness.

Slowly weeks trickled by and Theodore who had been watching everything from a third persons perspective suddenly found himself viewing things from a first person perspective. It was like he was Lucas, his body moved on it's own and he had no control over it, all the trainings Lucas underwent he found himself doing the same thing as he was currently Lucas in this unknown realm.

Weeks turned to months and months turned to years he constantly honed his skills as he had no choice, it's not like he wanted to do it but rather he had no control over his body.

It was only after he'd completed his ninety seventh assassination before he finally felt the sensation of being incorporeal once more.

The materlized scene slowly dematerialized in front of him and he drifted further away from the void till he saw a tiny ray of light.

Using all his might he moved towards the light, as he got closer he stretched his hands forward grabbing onto the tiny ray of light floating around the void like a will o wisp, as soon as his hands came in contact with it his vision blanked.

.....

"Ugh, where the hell am I?." Theodore muttered in a weak tone as his blurry vision became clear and his eyes met an unfamiliar ceiling.

" You're awake? " A voice sounded besides Theodore.

He turned to look at the familiar face of his aunt staring at him. Apparently it seems like she'd stayed awake the whole time Theodore was unconscious cause she had some serious dark circles under her eyes.

Upon seeing his aunt Theodore became confused he recalled he'd spent about six years as Lucas in that void, he was expecting the same or a closer time range similar to that but seeing his aunt she didn't look like she'd aged rather she looked tired.. really tired.

" Uh.. A..Aunt, how long was I unconscious for? " He decided to ask after several minutes of considering the possibilities of a time difference between the void and his world.

" Three days..... we were worried sick, seems like the traumatic incident strained your mental health quite a lot... I'm not sure that's all there is to it but the doctors couldn't detect anything or a reaction in your brain."

Three days? It definitely felt like I spent years inside there, was that all of a dream? No it can't be a dream the emotions and everything else felt so real, who the hell is Lucas! Ugh! My head...

"Theo? Theodore?... You ok?.."

"Huh? Y..Yeah aunt I'm feeling better now.... On that note I'd like to be discharged today please I don't want to spend another second in here."

" No, Theodore you can't, you just woke up now there's no way I'm letting you leave." Theodore's aunt argued.

"I'm really fine aunt, besides the risk of the organization following me here are high, this is a hospital I can be injected with an unknown substance without your knowledge and taken away, so please help me get discharged right away." Theodore replied with a low tone.

"Fine, I'll be back, I'll send Adrian and your uncle here to look after you while I meet up with the doctor in Charge."

"Alright!" Theodore replied.

It wasn't long before his aunt's husband and her son came in, Theodore looked at them with his usual emotionless face he'd put up since he entered the earth realm.

"Hey, how're you feeling now?" Richard asked, his voice a bit cold and wary.

"I'm doing ok now, thanks for asking." Theodore replied, his tone mirroring that of Richard's

"That's good to hea..."

"Say, say Theo you're feeling better right?, cause I've got a whole lot of activities planned out for us before you're ready to go to school." Adrian chimed in interrupting his dad as he excitenly asked Theodore with sparkly eyes.

Ugh this kid seems too excited for his own good, maybe staying in that void made me forget how children his age usually behaves. It's a bit refreshing to see but it's equally annoying.

" A.. Alright!" Theodore replied, before diverting his attention to the window, even though it seemed unrealistic, the things Theodore learned living as Lucas and as an assassin still remained in the real world, he didn't know how to explain it but everything was different, based on the number of footsteps he hears he could accurately determine the numbers of people and their distance away from him, besides that his senses became sharper as he could also know if he was being watched, followed or if someone was hiding close by.

A few minutes passed by, Adrian was busy rambling about school and shopping and even giving his preference on trendy clothes for the year as well as recommendations.

Theodore just listened as he had no other option, but he didn't utter a single word, same with Richards.

"Alright, I've spoken to the doctor they'll get you out of here in a few minutes.... Richards, Adrian let's start packing." Amelia announced as she stepped into the room.

Like his aunt had said, after a few minutes the doctors came and did a few Minor checks on him then discharged him afterwards.

On their way out of the hospital just as they were about to get into their car, Theodore felt a chill crawl up his spine, he instinctively knew that he was being watched by someone dangerous, he turned around and noticed a shadowy figure in a dark ally watching him.

Crap, they're here? They actually followed me here huh?, I can't go with aunt or they'll know where I'm living and there's also the possibility of them tailing my aunt and her family, what do I do now? Whoever they sent this time I can't handle him in my current state. Damnit....

"Theodore..get in the car, let's go" Amelia ordered.

Theodore was a bit stunned, his Aunt voice was grim and there was a bit of bloodlust being emanated from her, he turned to look at her and noticed she was staring in the same direction where the shadowy figure was... Whoever he was, the look on Amelia's face was enough for Theodore to know that his Aunt had some history with this person.

Without much hesitation he entered the car and his aunt followed immediately.

' I'll have to be careful, if I want to survive and get my revenge then I have to get stronger, I'll have to kill in order not to be killed...' Theodore thought gripping his hands really tight, ' just y'all wait, I'll destroy you all.'